"Interestingly enough, it is Greenport’s growing gastronomical culture that is stewarding our ongoing maritime history with its resurgence in oyster farming, local food sourcing, and commentary on the bays. The weekend-long festival begins Friday night with the Land & Sea Gala, a swanky event organized by museum board members Sarah Phillips Loth and Mary Herrick alongside Ashley O’Neil Events. Every year a slew of local restaurants, caterers, wineries, and breweries join together and provide food and wine tastings for the fundraising event. All proceeds benefit the East End Seaport Museum and allow them to continue on with their educational programming for both adults and children through art exhibitions, boating workshops, local food tastings, and artisan demonstrations."

This was a self assignment pitched to Edible East End as both writer and photographer about Kon Tiki, an eclectic Asian restaurant that has proven to be a delightful surprise in the heart of the village of Greenport.

Executive Chef, Cheo Avila

"There is no question that the enchantment found in Kon Tiki inherently lies in its diversity. You taste it in their food, in their cocktails, and you feel it through the music and the décor. That is why Johnny emphasizes such unity between the front of the house and the back of the house. And with Kon Tiki being in such a small, intimate space to begin with, that is already facilitated. “You can taste [the energy] in the drinks, you can taste it in the food; I used to pull the chair up when I was a kid and watch my mother cook. I’d pull the chair up right next to the stove, and I’d be looking in, and watch. I remember she made this beef soup, which is one of my favorites, and I’d watch the process and I’d be like, ‘Mom, how much did you put in?’ And she’d say, ‘Oh, a little bit of this, a little bit of that.’ Never measurements, of course. And then she would add, ‘But the most important ingredient you have to put is love; otherwise, it doesn’t come out.'”